The 500S was Lamborghini's response to nemesis Ferrari's release of the 5 litre Berlinetta Boxer. While physically unchanged from the LP400S (save for the slightly ambitious '5000' badging), an increase in bore and stroke pushed capacity up to 4.8 litres with a corresponding power increase up to 375bhp, a match for the original LP400. For a more useful real world delivery, peak power and torque now both arrived at more sedate levels, 7000rpm and 4500rpm respectively.

The 500S proved a commercial success (although only 325 were built) putting Lamborghini back on it's feet following several recent financial scrapes.